Ice-cream-coating machine



1,493,512 J. E. ZANGMASTER I-QE CREAM COAIING MACHINE .'jiled April l. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 13 ,.1924.

L MN A NN ow May 13 1924.

J. E. ZANGMASTER ICE CREAM COATING MACHINE Filed April l, 1922 2 Simmer-Sheet 2 of Figure 2,

Patented May 13, 1924.` Y

1 UNITED srTS JOHN E.. zaneivrnsfrnn, oF connnnus; OHIO?.

icE-cnnAM-coA'ri-Ne MAcmANE.-

Application mea anni i, 192a-seria1 No. 548,596.: f

T o all lwhom t may cof/wcm:

Be it known that JOHN E. ZANGMASTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and'State of Ohio, has invented certain new and -ujseful Improvements in Ice-CreamfC0ating Machines, of which the following is a speci-` `fication. A

The present invention is directed to iml provements'in coating machines.`

The 'inventionhas for its primary object to provide a machine especially'designed for coating ice cream bodies with chocolate,` the coating being hardenedv immediately afterl the bodies have been subjected to the liquid coating of chocolate. f`

A further object of the invention is to prowill enter the machine Lsucce'ssively land in'4A proper order.` y j Another objectr ofthe invention is to provide novel means for discharging thecoated bodies from the machine.

With these and other objects in view,'ras will appear asl the description proceeds, the invention consists inthe novel featuresof construction, combinationsof elements `and arrangements of parts, and hereinafter to be `fully'described and pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

.Figure l isa top plan view of the machine, V Figure 2 is a longitudinalsectional view through the same,

Figure 3 is a sectional view on line 13k-3` of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a sectional vview 4.-4 of Figure 2, ,Y

Figure 5 is a sectional view on fline 5 5 on the line Figure 6 1s an enlarged detail sectional view of the receiving end 'of the machine,

Figure 7 is an enlarged-detailv View of the discharge end of .the machine,'sh0wing more clearly the discharging means, r

materialv in a proper let for the steam may Figure Bris a fragmentarytop planf-.vieww ofthe discharge end of the machine,-'and f :Figllr 19- is a vertical;*longitudinall sectional view through the steam' heated roller.

Referring yto the idrawi'ng,j-1,designatesa, V tank, .which is preferably rectangular `inf:A shape and formed from-.any :suitableeheet metal. This tank is 'supported by.r legs 2 and arranged between these legs is a pan,

es said pan having associated-therewith atopf positeends pa-nSA andf5,A they latte/,F.bein

supported'by legs' 6, vwhile the former is supported vby la frame 7.' The-tankvl is formed with y'a curved vbottom i 8 and includes a com partmentQ- for introducing ysteam or any other suitable heating medium. The heat` ing fluid, in this instance being steam, is controlled'through the pipelO, which leads from a suitable source of steam supply. 1

j- Aligned with the tank k1y is a' tank 1l, ysaid y tank being provided lwith-,a steam- "compait-sv ment 12. This tank is` supportedvbycthe frame 7 and; has' itsinnen end ,resting` upon the adjacent end ofthepan'.

f Supported by/thejtanks y1 and l1 is a Vhollow rbody vlfformedl 'fromvll sheet metal;

steam` being introduced thereintotlirough a supplypipefQC Depending from the outerl endof-l-the bodyl'are compartrnentsI 14 which open e into 'the steam -compartment ,12

so that steam which .enters throughithe sup-"X ply`-pipe-10"`will flow into the compart-v ments 12-and114, thus heating the material containedv in the tank 11. t, Any suitable outb'e' providedy for the respective-tanks. V.

Supports 16S-fare provided, and. are 'located adjacent thesidesof the body v13, and rotai tively supported by they upper `ends of the supports -16 is aroller -17 steanrbeing introduced there'i'nto, whenjdesired Vthroughy a` supplyv pipeflSQ f A conveyor 19 is-'einployed' and consists kof a pairwof'sprocket chains 20,5saidkchainsbeing connected 'by Arods r.21, said 4rods being ,arranged ,equaldistances "apart and are each provided with a pair of spurs 22, the purh pose of'which will later appear.

" The chains :2O are trained around sprocket wheels 23,fwhichgareglocated at the entrancev l end of 'the fmachiiie/,fand thence around drive sprocketsf24: whichare fixed to adrive shaft 25whichextendstransversely of the -ytank 8. Mounted in the ltankS-'are'sprocket @wheels 26fwhichare carried inadjustable boxes 27, said lboxes being `adjustable through the medium of screw shafts 28, and it willthus be seen that the tension of the conveyor 20 can be conveniently regulated.

These chains 20, as will be seen upon ref erence to Figure 2 travel nearlytothe bot` tom of the tank 8, and thenceover the roller 17 carried by the supports 16, the chains then for a portion of their length are di rected downwardly and under the rollers 29 Which'aresupported by the body 13. Located in the tank 11 are sprockets 3G, and arranged also in the tank 11 and adjacent -the inner end thereof are sprockets 31, the

gages the chains 2G and serves to hold they same underthe right tension.

Located adjacent thetank 1 is a stand 37 upon which is mounted an electric motor 38, said motor having its shaft provided with a pulley 39, and aligned with saidpulley is a pulley 4G which is fixed to the jack shaft 41, saidshaft also having pulley 42 fixed thereto which is aligned with va pulley 43 fixed to the drive shaft 25. A belt connects the pulleys 39 and 40, and im# parte movement to the jack shaft '41, the movement from said shaft being imparted to the pulley 43 by a belt 45 which is trained around the pulleys 42 and 43. Thus it will be seen that the conveyor 19 is compelled to travelin tlie'directi'oii of the arrow, as shown iii Figure2, when the motor 38 is in motion, thus causingthe conveyor to travel downwardly into the tank 8, and from thence over the roller 17, and through the tank 11.

chine.; is a trough 46, which is inclined downwardly, and has carried by its inner end ears 47 said ears being provided with vertical slots 48, there being a roller 49 arranged between said ears. the ends ot' the roller being provided. with trunnioiis 50 which are capable of moving vertically in the slots 48.

Also connected with the motor shaft 39 is a fan 51 which is mounted in the casingrv head 54, said head being disposed immediately above the roller 17;vv This head is hollow and curved transversely so that air cre` ated by the fan 51; will be directed i' downwardly upon that portion of the conveyor f which is travelling over the roller 17, the

purpose of whichfwill later appear. A

branch pipe 55 leads from the pipe 53 and communicates with a channel 56 located beneath the body 13, said channel having a nozzle 57 formed upon its outer end and directed toward the tank 11, said nozzle being elongated so that air discharged thereyfrom will be directed upon the chains 2O as they pass from the inner end of the tank 11.`

The chains 2O when passing through the tank 11 are subjected to the action of the brushes 58, which are supported in anysuitable manner in said tank kso as to Aeffectively remove coating which may adhere to the chains. t

A chute 59 is supported by the youter end of the tank 11 'and is inclined downwardly so that articles passing therefrom will fall upon the endless belt V60, which serves to j convey the coated bodies to a suitable point.

Pivotally mounted in the tank '11- is an ejector 61 which consists of lateral arnis'62, the lower ends of which are pivotally connected within the tank 11, as at 63. The

upper ends of these arms support a curvedMVA plate 64 which is so arranged that it will permit the travel ot the spurs 22 upon opposite sides thereof. A trip arm 65 is carried by the ejector and is arranged in the path of movement of the rods 21, so that each time' a rod engages the trip arm,y 65 the ejector will be swung tothe left, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 7 of the drawings.

The ice cream. bodies `66 are preferably molded in cylindrical form, but it will bei' ot course understood that other forms rmay be used, if desired.. v

The bodies 66 are depositedon the inclined trough 46 4and pass under the roller 49, and when the conveyor 19 is in motion it is obvious that these bodies will be so positioned as to be engagedk by the spurs 22,7 and thevroller 49 is of such weight so as to hold the body in a position to be penetrated by the adjacent spurs, a continued movement Locatedadjacent the sprockets 23, or what may be termed the entrance end of the ina tinuous travel of the chains 20 willcarry the body upwardly and over the roller17, and since this roller may be heated surplus coating on the body 66 will drip upon the body 13 and back into the tank 8. As soon as one oi the bodies 66 reaches the ejector 61 the same will be tripped by the arms thus swinging the ejector outwardly and causing the plate 64 to force the body from the spurs 22, whereupon the body will vfall upon the chute 59, and the conveyor belt 60.

It will be of course understood that each set of spurs will engage a body 66 so that they will be successively moved fromthe trough 46 and subjected to the coating action.

It is obvious that the chocolate coating, which is naturally sticky, will adhere to the conveyor, and to remove this surplus chocolate from the chain cocoa butter is placed in the tank 11, and this butter, in a melted state will in conjunction with the brushes 58 remove this coating from the chains. As the chains 2O leave the inner end of the tank Il the `air ejected from the nozzle 57 will blow any material therefrom back into the tank.

It sometimes happens that the room in which the machine is located will become warm, and in this case it will not be necessary to heat the roller 17, but it is then desirable to blow cold air upon the coated bodies, and in order to do this the head 54 has been provided.

The rods 22 are connected to the chains 2O of the conveyor 19 so that the .spurs 22 will at all times remain in the same angular relation thereto, the angle being most satisfactory, being approximately 45 degrees. It

will be observed that as the conveyor travels in the tank 8 that the spursv will assume a substantial horizontal position previousto passing under the sprockets 26 and in this manner the bodies 66 impaled on the spurs will not become displaced as they enter the liquid coating, but there is a tendency to more firmly impale the bodies upon the spurs as they travel downward through the coating.

The spurs 22 in their upward travel from the tank 8 will assume a substantial vertical position, eliminating any possibilities ofv the bodies becoming accidentally disengaged therefrom. It will be further observed that the spurs will at all times be so positioned that it is impossible for the coating from the bodies to drip therefrom during the travel of the conveyor.

Since the conveyor passes through the coating in the tank 8 a quantity of the coating will stick thereto, but as before stated, this coating is removed as the conveyoi` travels through the tank 1l. Thus the cocoa butter will then become mixed with this coating material, and when this occurs the contents are removed from the tank l1, replenished with chocolate, and again used in the tank 8.

After the bodies 66 have passed through the tank 8 for coating, the coatingis of course, not wholly hard, and will drip from the bodies, but owing to the fact that the conveyor travels upwardly and at an incline, any coating which drips from a body will not fallupon the bodies immediately below. In this manner, the coating will be perfectly even and uniform on all bodies asf they leave the machine for packing. It'has been found yfrom actual practice that the chocolate coating which contains a portion of cocoa butter will become hardened in a very short time after tank 8. l

Sincejit is'desired to heat the tank 8,11, bodies 13, and roller 17, at different degrecs', independent steam supplies have beenV provided therefor. i j v The pans 3, 4 and 5 are merely for catching any material which may drip from the conveyor during its travel.

What Iclaim is: l. In a coating` machine, the combination with a tank, of a conveyor passable therethrough, spurs associated with the conveyor and disposed in acute angular relation therethe bodies leave the to, and means for changing the position of the spurs from a substantially horizontal yposition to a substantially vertical position during the travel through the tank, as andy for the purpose setr forth.

2. In a coating machine, the combination with -a tank, for containing a liquid coating, of a conveyor passable therethrough, spurs rigidly supported by the conveyor and in acute angular relation thereto, sprockets mounted in the tank and under which the conveyor travels to compel the conveyor to travel downwardly 'andV thence upwardly,

whereby the spurs assume substantially horizontal and vertical positions during the travel of the conveyor through the tank.

3. In a coating machine, the combination with a pair of tanks, of yan endless conveyor passable therethrough and common to both tanks, a roller disposed above the tanks 'and over which the conveyor passes, a steamcontaining body associated with the tanks, said body having a-channel associated therewith, a nozzle in communication with the channel and a -fan blower associated with.

themachine for furnishing air to, said nozzle and channel, as and for the purpose set forth. l

4. In a coating machine, the combination with a tank, an endless conveyor passable therethrough, a steam heated body associated `with the tank, an endless conveyorpassable through kthe tank, said steam heated body having an air conducting 'channel associated therewith for directing air upon the vconveyor as the same passes from the tank, and means foroperating the conveyor. f

yIn testimony whereof I alix my signature. JOI-IN E. ZANGMASTER; 

